Eugene Peterson on being a pastor

Here's a video of a recent interview with Eugene Peterson, commenting on what it means to be a pastor:

Watch the full episode. See more Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.

9Marks articles on transition

My friend Adam recently forwarded an e-mail of the most recent (January/February 2011) 9Marks eJournal, from the 9Marks folks (they take their name from Mark Dever's 9 Marks of a Healthy Church). Knowing my interest in pastoral transition, he knew I would be interested in these articles.

They are all very good. Here's a run-down of the articles included:

Pastors Leaving
Leaving Your Church Well: An Interview with Michael Lawrence. This is an informative interview, offering one pastor's reflections on his experience with transition. (I think it's important to keep in mind the fact that this is one guy's experience.)

Prepare the Church for the Next Guy by Matt Schmucker. A good list of things to do that will accomplish what the title suggests. This particular list is written from a Baptist perspective, and will have less application in other contexts.

Book Review: Handle That New Call With Care by David Campbell (reviewed by Bobby Jamieson). This is a helpful review; there are a lot of good books on this topic, and I appreciate the objectivity in this review.

Pastors Coming
What's Wrong With Search Committees? Part 1 of 2 on Finding a Pastor by Mark Dever. This is standard Mark Dever fare: good insights and sound wisdom, served up with a slightly abrasive tone. If committee members can read through the abrasiveness, they'll find some good warnings here.

What's Right About Elders? Part 2 of 2 on Finding a Pastor by Mark Dever and Bobby Jamieson. A very interesting counter-point to the previous article, here arguing for Elders (instead of more broadly-based Search Committees) conducting pastoral searches. He makes some strong points, though I question how practicable this approach is, especially for larger congregations.

What Not To Do When You're The New Guy by Walter Price. Very solid advice from a seasoned pastor, useful in pretty much every transition. Definitely worth reading.

You Might Have The Wrong Candidate If... by Dennis Newkirk. Skip the opening half of this article; the real meat is in the last half (and especially the last third). But the stuff there is really good stuff. Committees, please take note!

Tips For An Interim Pastor by Jonathan Leeman. Generally some good advice here. The writer's points of reference were fairly short interims, and those with a longer interim tenure (six months or more) might take much of this with a grain of salt.

Pastors Staying
Staying To The Glory Of God: One Preacher's Death Wish by Jeramie Rinne. This piece is a good challenge to consider long-tenure pastorates, which I agree is not seriously considered often enough in today's pastoral climate.

Staying For The Glory Of God: The Sibbes, Simeon, And Stott Model by Mark Dever. Another good challenge to consider staying longer.


Click over to the 9Marks site through any of the links above and check out some of these articles. Thanks, Adam for pointing these out to me!

Good pieces on pastoral compensation

Doug Wilson recently wrote a series of posts on "ministerial compensation" on his blog. He included four posts:

Double Honor
Shepherds Who Feed Only Themselves
Shortchanging for Jesus
Actually Count the Shekels

I recognize that Mr. Wilson tends to evoke strong reactions (favorably or not), and I certainly don't agree with everything he says. I do find that he sometimes puts his finger upon something exactly, and I think in this case he has done so. He lays out a careful consideration of an important topic, starting with a theological basis (in Double Honor), then discussing good and bad approaches to ministerial compensation (in Shepherds Who Feed Only Themselves and Shortchanging For Jesus) before frank discourse about how a congregation ought to think (and re-think) how they pay their pastor(s) (in Actually Count The Shekels).

Well worth reading if you are in some way involved in the process of evaluating what a new or existing pastor should be paid.

Pastors Search for Churches, Home Buyers

Here's another article on pastoral transition, this time from The Gospel Coalition, entitled "Pastors Search for Churches, Home Buyers". This article, by Collin Hansen, is a good exposé on the problem of the pastoral transition process being halted by the obstacle of selling homes.

The article points out a reality that more and more churches may NEED to consider if they will be able to bring in a new pastor in the coming years: the return of the parsonage/manse. Says Hansen:

Churches might be in a different position today if more still housed their pastors in parsonages. Threatened with burnout, pastors have been counseled to separate their home and church life. Parsonages, often located near the church, make erecting such boundaries more difficult. Plus, financial planners advise pastors to take advantage of the tax benefits that come with a housing allowance and build equity.
But new economic realities may alter this thinking. The New York Times surveyed analysts in August and reported that home ownership is not expected to pay off in the foreseeable the future the way it did between 1950 and 2008. “More than likely,” David Sreitfeld wrote, “that era is gone for good.” Going forward, housing values may only keep pace with inflation. If this analysis is true, then the parsonage may return. Churches may even recruit younger pastors burned by the market in recent years with the incentive of free housing. Now would certainly be the time for such churches to buy low.

This is an excellent point, and something that more congregations (and perhaps ESPECIALLY the smaller ones) ought to consider more seriously.

I highly recommend this article posted at the Gospel Coalition website.

A couple of helpful links

I've come across a couple of helpful pieces lately that I'll pass along:

• Church Whisperers-- this group focuses on strategic interim pastoring, which is a sorely-needed ministry and an oft-neglected topic. I really like what this effort is doing. Check out the latest article: "Working Yourself Out of a Job".
• Congregations and New Pastors: A How-To Guide-- this is a great article for congregations on how to receive a new pastor. The advice here is SO good. I'm really grateful to this Lutheran brother for his work in writing this.

I trust you will find these helpful, as I did.

Big list of links

I've been working to update my list of links for placement and transition help. I've added a bunch of denominational and school links, as well as a good number of others. I've been prowling around for these for several years now, and I think this is the largest list I've ever seen compiled in one place.

If you want to make use of this master list, you can see it on the Doulos Resources website under "Placement Links".